Community Service Leave Policy

Indiana State University is committed to help strengthen the communities in which we work and live. Consequently, we encourage ISU employees to become involved in their communities, lending their voluntary support to programs that enrich the quality of life and opportunities for all citizens.

The following guidelines are for Indiana State University employees who serve as volunteers in community programs that are either of personal interest or are University sponsored initiatives.

Amount/Availability of Leave

Full-Time Employees: A maximum of 15 hours of paid leave per fiscal year will be made available to current full-time employees on July 1 of each year.

Part-Time Employees: A maximum of 7.5 hours of paid leave per fiscal year will be made available to current part-time employees on July 1 of each year.

Faculty: Faculty with twelve-month appointments will receive paid leave for community service and should follow the procedures outlined on this page for requesting leave approval. Faculty with ten-month appointments are encouraged to participate in community service as part of their on-going service activities and are not required to submit the community service leave request.

The paid leave should be taken in no less than 1 hour increments.

Use of Leave

Paid leave is not granted for days that employees are not scheduled to work.

Leave under this policy may be used ONLY for providing community service as outlined below.

Eligible Community Service Activities

Employees may be granted paid leave under this policy to provide "hands-on" voluntary service to their communities as part of an organized community service activity. Appropriate service activities include the provision of direct service to a non-profit organization, a public agency, a local school corporation or the clients that these organizations serve. Examples of direct service include:

delivering meals to the homes of older adults

tutoring and mentoring children through an organized program

assisting with the physical maintenance of a community center

reading to a pre-school class

teaching a CPR class

counseling a crime victim

building a trail

giving tours at a museum

field trips with children and grandchildren

Service should be provided to organizations with goals that the University would
deem ethical and consistent with the University's mission. A pre-approved list
of organizations is available from the Center for Community Engagement by
clicking here.

Employees, who are members of volunteer fire departments and rescue squads, or
auxiliary units thereof, may be granted paid leave under this policy to:

respond to emergency situations during their working hours at the University; or

arrive after the normal beginning of their work shift if an emergency situation
to which they responded outside their normal work hours continues beyond the
normal beginning of their work shift at the University.

Excluded from this policy is service provided through an organization where the
only recipients of the service are the members of the organization (i.e.
painting and maintenance of church buildings, attending a committee meeting for
a fraternal lodge). Activities involving political groups or causes do not
qualify for use of this leave. Attendance of social events and fundraisers for a
community organization also do not qualify.

Approval of Leave

Employees must submit a written request and receive approval from their
supervisor prior to using community service leave. Supervisors may require
written verification from an official of the community service organization for
use of community service leave.

Supervisors should attempt to approve leave at the time requested by the
employees, but have the discretion to disapprove the leave if it will
significantly impact the University operations.

The University may determine that it is not possible to release certain
employees under this policy due to staffing requirements. The supervisor may
require that the leave be taken at a time other than the one requested based on
operation needs, and/or may require acceptable proof that any leave taken is
within the purpose of this policy.

If the leave request is approved by the supervisor, the employee may register
for the program through the Center for Community Engagement.

Additionally, if response to emergency situations as a member of a volunteer
fire department or rescue squad will result in tardiness to work, employees must
notify their supervisors as promptly as possible.

Reporting Community Service Time

With appropriate supervisor approvals, employees will report community service
leave on the appropriate time report. The Payroll Office will process the
community service leave time as reported and provide a report after each pay to
the Center for Community Engagement for review and final approval. If, after the
pay is processed, the Center for Community Engagement determines that the
service time does not qualify under this policy, the Center for Community
Engagement will promptly notify the Payroll Office and the community service
leave time will be replaced with vacation time or unpaid leave as appropriate.

Leave time taken under this policy will be included in the calculation of weekly
hours for overtime for non-exempt staff.

Employees will not be entitled to any reimbursement for travel, lodging, meals,
and other trip-related expense.

Accidents that occur during community service are covered by the workers
compensation insurance carrier.